Monday, July 11, 2011

A Day Without Writing is Like a Day When the Muse Sneaks Up on You

I did it again. I completely forgot that a day with no writing is not necessarily a bad thing.

Yesterday, I puttered. I indulged in a Harry Potter marathon with my daughter and my husband. We transferred a box of books my daughter was finished with to the used bookstore and shopped for swimsuits for the beach. I most definitely did not paint the dining room baseboards or write anything besides a blog, and that was late at night, after the muse had made it clear she was on vacation. Indefinitely.

As I was getting ready to close out my files and step away from the computer, a funny thing happened. I got an idea.

It wasn't a big idea, but it was pivotal. And it simply popped into my head as I finished a bit of internalization before closing out a file.

And I think it popped up that easily because it wasn't forced to do so. Don't get me wrong - that finish line is still pretty far away - but I cleared enough brambles to find a trail that leads back to the main path, and from there, I can see the finish line.

And silly me, I'd completely forgotten that a weekend spent in other pursuits (analyzing the beautiful opus that is Harry Potter and how masterfully J K Rowling planted seeds along every step of the path) is time spent enriching myself, and thus, my writing.

This morning, I got back to my new idea and was happy to see that it bore fruit...although I sidestepped the aforementioned pivotal event, it was for a worthwhile cause - another one of those conversations I had no idea my characters needed to have.

Can't wait to see where my characters take it from here.

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